


I Don't Like You

by ShipArmada (SarahSelene)



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: M/M, Realization of Failure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-08
Updated: 2017-06-08
Packaged: 2018-11-11 08:20:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11144547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SarahSelene/pseuds/ShipArmada
Summary: Baby!SpiritAssassins! One of my fave things to write about. How Baze and Chirrut became friends.





	I Don't Like You

Baze enjoyed working in the gardens. He liked sitting in the rich dirt that was so different than the sand everywhere else on Jedha, enjoyed getting his hands dirty, loved the way it clung to the insides of his short nails. There was something about being part of something so alive that made Baze feel closer to the Force.

“I don’t like you.”

Baze paused from his work, looking up at the person who spoke. Chirrut was standing next to Baze, arms crossed over his chest. Despite being only a year older, seven-year-old Baze was already a good head taller than Chirrut, and this switch in positions was a little unnerving. “I’m sorry to hear that, Brother,” Baze answered simply and turned back to his work. Chirrut’s opinion of him was not high on his list of priorities. He did not think much of Chirrut at all.

Chirrut’s dark eyes narrowed and his arms tightened around his scrawny chest. “Don’t you want to know why?” Chirrut demanded. As he shifted in the dirt his right foot came down with a hard stamp.

“Nope,” Baze answered easily, pulling a seed from the bag next to him and pressing it into the ground. As he pushed a small mound of dirt over the seed he whispered a gentle prayer over them. The seed could use all the help it could get.

Baze could practically feel Chirrut’s eye roll next to him and finally looked over when Chirrut flopped onto the dirt in a huff, legs folded under him as he laid on his back, stretching his arms above his head. “You don’t know how to have fun!”

The laugh that escaped Baze was loud and incredulous, and Baze was glad it was just the two of them there. Baze did not like being the center of attention. “What? I know how to have fun!” He turned to Chirrut fully then.

“You never play the games with the other initiates,” Chirrut pointed out. “You’d rather go meditate, and all the grown-ups love you because you’re _so devout_.” Chirrut’s nose scrunched at that.

“You look like a rabbit,” Baze pointed out, and then ungracefully shoved Chirrut out of the way so he could continue his work. “I think we just think different things are fun. I like working with my hands, and you like looking stupid.”

The squawk made it worth it. “I do not look stupid!” He scrambled up and shoved against Baze’s shoulder, glaring at him. “You take it back.”

Baze shook his head, swaying with the shove. He looked towards Chirrut again, and saw the red flush of his face. He wondered if he had gone too far, but stopping now would give Chirrut the advantage to lash back. “Last week you did a head stand for so long you passed out. If that is ‘fun’ I don’t want to be having any of it.”

Chirrut let out a huff and he sat down away from Baze’s precious seeds, crossing his arms again. “That’s not the only way to have fun…”

“It seems to be the only way you can have fun.”

Chirrut let out a huff. “I bet you’ve never even climbed a tree. That’s fun.”

“There aren’t a lot of trees on Jedha,” Baze pointed out, planting another seed and saying his quiet prayer.

“There’s the uneti tree in the garden,” Chirrut said, and then sprang to his feet. “Let’s go climb it! Me and you! Right now!” Chirrut’s hands slid under Baze’s arm and he gave the bigger boy a sharp tug up.

“I’m working!” Baze said, but stumbled up to his feet, finally getting to glare down at Chirrut. “Why would you want to climb with me anyway? I thought you didn’t like me!”

Chirrut rolled his eyes. “Work can wait,” he said, tugging his arm again and ignoring the rest. “Come on, the uneti tree is easy to climb, and it will be good for you.”

“You’re a pain you know that?” Baze grumbled, but he relented and followed Chirrut to the uneti tree.

The tree stood in the middle of the garden, and during the brief rainy season it was full of leaves and flowers, but the native desert tree was bare for the rest of the year. It was a rare tree that was highly prized for its strength, and was a symbol of life existing even in the harshest of environments. The thing was also downright ugly. Most of the branches were knobbed and twisted, a few feet past the first sections and then the branches would twist and search for light.

But it was alive. It had been alive on Jedha for longer than the planet had been inhabited, or so the Disciples had told them. Baze was in awe of this tree, and its age. He could not comprehend what that length of time meant, but he could try.

“Well?” Chirrut asked, impatient as he stood next to Baze. “Are you going to climb with me or not?” And then Chirrut was rushing forward, using the lowest hanging branch to pull himself up, into the mass of branches.

“You know,” Baze said from down below, crossing his arms. “I could just leave now! You’ve let me go and now I am free to leave!”

“You’re not going to though,” Chirrut teased without turning to look at Baze. “You’re going to follow me because this looks like fun!”

Baze let out a huff, watching the scrawny boy climb through the branches. It did, Baze admitted quietly to himself, look like fun. He let out a huff and then moved forward, pulling himself up and trying to climb up the same way Chirrut did. It was harder than Chirrut made it look, the wood was dry and rough and rubbed against Baze’s hands, turning them more red with each pull up. When he skinned his knee against one of the branches, he considered getting down and going back to his work, but Chirrut’s high laugh above him kept him climbing.

Baze got to the top of the trunk, his hands stinging and a small trickle of blood sliding down his knee, but he made it. Chirrut had made a small nest for himself in the branches, leaning back and looking over the garden. Baze felt a little better about his own climbing skills when he saw that Chirrut’s hands were also bright red. “Great view, huh?” Chirrut asked, face splitting into a grin.

Baze paused and he looked around. The tree was not very tall, just barely passing the lowest roofs. He was confident that if he were to jump down he would not even hurt himself. But it was a different view than he was used to. Baze smiled and he nodded, looking at Chirrut. “Yes, it’s a nice view.”

Chirrut grinned and then reached over, gently shoving Baze. “And wasn’t that fun?”

Baze could not have stopped his eye roll if he tried, sitting on a wide branch. “Yeah, yeah, it was fun, okay! Climbing trees is fun.”

Chirrut grinned and then pulled his knees up to his chest. “Hey, Baze?”

“Mm?”

Chirrut paused and then shifted closer, climbing over to sit on Baze’s other side. The branch did not so much as wiggle. “Will you be my friend?”

“I thought you didn’t like me,” Baze said with a grin, looking at Chirrut.

“I don’t,” Chirrut said firmly, but that grin was still splitting his face, and Baze felt no bite in that statement. “But I’d like to be your friend.”

Baze’s grin softened and then he nodded. “I’d like that too.”

Chirrut grinned. “Last one back to the bottom is a rotten kiros egg!” Chirrut fell to the next branch before Baze had time to think.

“Hey!” Baze shouted, and then followed after him.

**Author's Note:**

> Come talk to me at ShipArmada whenever you want!


End file.
